What is Thai Massage?
Thai Massage, Thai Yoga Massage, Nuad Boran, Nuad Paan Bulan, and Nuat Thai, are all names for a traditional healing modality which has been practiced in Thailand for centuries. Based on Ayurvedic medicine and yoga, this art form has been handed down through an unbroken chain of masters for centuries, and is practiced today across Thailand. Thai massage is becoming increasingly popular in the West, and is among the fastest growing massage modalities in the U.S. Massage Magazine, Yoga Journal, and other industry leading consumer and professional magazines have frequently featured Thai Massage in their pages.
A complete Thai massage incorporates a traditional combination of acupressure, energy meridian work, and yoga-like stretching. Thai massage is different from many Western forms of massage in that there is no oil used, that the therapist uses a mattress on the floor (as opposed to a massage table), and that the client remains completely clothed throughout the session. It is so different from what we typically mean by "massage" that it is often instead described as having someone "do yoga to you" In fact, in Thailand, Thai massage has sometimes been called "Yoga for Lazy People"!
Thai massage is the perfect complement to any exercise routine and is suitable for clients of all ages and abilities. The classic Thai massage routine can be varied to suit a wide range of physical needs, and can be used as a form of physical therapy to aid in the increase of range of motion and muscular strength.
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A complete Thai massage incorporates a traditional combination of acupressure, energy meridian work, and yoga-like stretching. Thai massage is different from many Western forms of massage in that there is no oil used, that the therapist uses a mattress on the floor (as opposed to a massage table), and that the client remains completely clothed throughout the session. It is so different from what we typically mean by "massage" that it is often instead described as having someone "do yoga to you" In fact, in Thailand, Thai massage has sometimes been called "Yoga for Lazy People"!
Thai massage is the perfect complement to any exercise routine and is suitable for clients of all ages and abilities. The classic Thai massage routine can be varied to suit a wide range of physical needs, and can be used as a form of physical therapy to aid in the increase of range of motion and muscular strength.
Click Here to Read More....
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The History of Thai Massage
Researchers have found indigenous Thai medicine to be an enigma, since the origins of this tradition are shrouded by centuries of secretive oral tradition. Viggo Brun and Trond Schumacher, in their analysis of traditional Thai medicine, point to the existence of two vastly different systems within Thailand, which they term the "Rural" and the "Royal" traditions.[1]
The rural traditions, according to Brun and Schumacher, are non-scholarly and rely on informal methods of education. These practices tend to vary considerably from village to village, and are transmitted largely through uneducated, local male practitioners who are closer to shamans, astrologers, and magicians than physicians. Their medical knowledge is handed down largely orally or through secret herbal manuscripts passed from teacher to pupil, and is usually not shared with outsiders, especially anthropologists or other Westerners attempting to study and understand their beliefs.[2] According to Brun and Schumacher, this form of medicine, utterly inaccessible to modern study, represents the indigenous Thai medical tradition, in existence prior to the arrival of ideas from India and depending almost entirely on pre-Buddhist spiritual beliefs.
The Royal medical tradition, in contrast, developed at the royal court under direct influence from abroad. This royal tradition of Thai medicine is a complex system of intertwining cultural influences originating in India, China, the Muslim world, and the West, but the primary influence, at least as far as the theoretical body of knowledge is concerned, appears to have come from the Ayurvedic tradition from India.
Elements of Indian medicine are clearly evident in the earliest traditional Thai medical texts, but as these written records are certainly far more recent than the arrival of Buddhism in Thailand, they do not directly indicate when these ideas arrived or by what means. Somchintana Ratarasarn cites evidence that by 1600 AD the Royal medical tradition was well established in the capital.2 Even so, these records do not demonstrate at what point these ideas arrived in Thailand. The Thais date the introduction of Buddhism to Thailand to the reign of King Asoka (c. 200 BC). The question as to whether elements of traditional Thai medicine arrived that early, with the introduction of Buddhism, or at a later date, remains unanswered.
The written record of the art of massage in Thailand dates to the same period. Massage is mentioned in 17th century palm-leaf medical scriptures written in Pali, the classical language of Theravada Buddhism. Writes Harald Brust:
These old texts seem to have been very important and were accorded respect similar to that bestowed on Buddhist scriptures. With the destruction of the old royal capital, Ayutthia, by Burmese invaders in 1767, most old texts were destroyed and are, sadly, gone forever. Only fragments survived and these were utilized in 1823 by King Rama III as the basis for the famous epigraphs at [Wat Po] in Bangkok. The fragments were collected and compared and then carved in stone and placed into the walls of the temple.[3]
The Wat Po diagrams are still a major source of technical information for therapists and scholars of nuad boran. These ancient diagrams describe a complex system of sen lines (Thai energy meridians) which is the core concept in Thai Massage and it own acupressure points, two ancient healing concepts which originated in India's Ayurvedic medicine.
These graven texts are still a rich source--and the only source--for anyone interested in exploring the theoretical background of Thai massage. Altogether there are 60 figures, 30 depicting the front of the body and 30 the back. On the figures therapy-points are shown along with the various energy lines called sen in Thai; these lines form the primary theoretical basis of Thai massage. If one looks at these diagrams with a Western concept of anatomy in mind, they appear to be quite strange at best, the reason being that anatomy did not play a role in ancient Thai massage. They are only a schematic device to show the pattern of invisible energy lines and acupressure points--and their influence on the body and its functioning.[4]
The tablets and statues at Wat Po show the high degree to which herbal and massage therapy had been codified and systematized in nineteenth century Thailand. The correlation between the tablets and yoga show that Indian ideas were deemed central to Thailand's Royal medical tradition at least around at the time of the construction of the temple. Likewise, the existence of 1100 Ayurvedic recipes, diagnostic techniques, and systems of classification in Wat Po's herbal manuscripts from the nineteenth century show that Thai herbalists also saw Ayurvedic concepts to be central to their practice--at least in theory. But by the time of these inscriptions, Thai massage and traditional medicine seem to have taken their current forms.
The question remains: when did these ideas arrive in Thailand? Based on my own research, my suspicion is that Indian and Thai medicine parted ways considerably earlier than the production of the Wat Po stone tablets. This would allow for either the complete integration of hatha yoga principles into an indigenous Thai massage, or else the development of an entirely new medical discipline, neither of which could probably have occurred only in the last few centuries. I hope to publish evidence for this speculation in an upcoming work.
What is clear, I believe, is that--regardless of the ultimate dating of its arrival in Thailand--the Indian medical system has for at least 500 years been used as an explanatory model by the Thais, has served as the core theory around which other indigenous ideas have been organized or explained, and has contributed greatly to several important Thai medical practices. Therefore, at least a cursory glance at the Indian traditions is unavoidable in any work on Thai massage traditions.
That being said, it is also clear that the Indian and the Thai practices parted ways multiple centuries ago, and that the two disciplines of Thai massage and yoga are not interchangeable. Thai beliefs, meridian charts, and massage techniques differ markedly from Indian Ayurvedic traditions, and can not be understood without looking at them on their own terms. This is what is attempted in this book, and while I will refer occasionally to parallels between the Thai and other traditions, it is always for point of comparison. In all cases, I give priority to the Thai tradition.
Thai Massage Lineages
Since its construction in the 19th century, the Wat Po temple in Bangkok, historically the center of the Royal Tradition of Thai medicine, has retained its importance as a medical facility. Housing the ancient stone tablets, the temple has long been a repository for healing techniques--something like a medical library of traditional herbalism and massage. At one time, massage was practiced at Wat Po primarily by the resident monks. Today, this is no longer the case as Wat Po is no longer a functioning monastery. However, to this day the temple is one of the most respected Thai massage and herbal medicine schools in the country, offering courses for Thais and Western tourists as well. This school has become the de facto headquarters of the Southern lineage, which is in fact known also as the "Wat Po Lineage."
The Shivagakomarpaj Institute, a traditional medicine hospital in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, has also emerged recently as an important institute for traditional medical studies. This institute, affectionately known by its students as the "Traditional Medicine Hospital" or the "Old Medicine Hospital", emerged in the 1960s under the leadership of Ajahn Sintorn, who developed an innovative blend of the Royal massage with indigenous influences from the Hill-Tribe regions surrounding Chiang Mai.. The hospital offers courses to Western tourists, and serves as the head of the Northern lineage (also referred to as the "Shivagakomarpaj Lineage" after the hospital).
Like in many Asian arts, lineage is considered an important element of Thai massage instruction, as an indication of authenticity and a mark of high quality. There are also a number of traditional regulations and a code of ethics for the lineage, and lineage membership is considered crucial in Thailand, as it indicates that the practitioner is a member of an authentic and established tradition of Thai massage.
These two schools, the Northern and the Southern, represent slightly different styles of Thai massage. Despite these differences, however, the two lineages are very compatible, and may even appear to be indistinguishable to the untrained. Moreover, many practitioners in Thailand do not strictly conform to the Northern or Southern style, often combining techniques from many different traditions, including Burmese, Chinese, and Hill-Tribe massage.
Generally speaking, the two main lineages predominate, but influences and methods vary from village to village, special techniques are treasured from family to family, and styles vary from individual to individual, such that very distinct styles of massage co-exist side by side. Many of these informally-trained village practitioners exhibit a unique blend of royal and rural tradition, and are truly living examples of the very unique and colorful healing traditions of Thailand.
Thai Massage Today
In modern Thailand, traditional massage is both a complex theoretical science, and an informal art form practiced by men and women throughout Thai society. On the one hand, Thai massage is a medical discipline, and is part of a 4-year traditional medical university degree program. On the other hand, it is practiced in many villages by informally trained healers who have learned orally, without much theoretical background.
Thai massage is directly related to Ayurvedic principles originating in India, and is said to have arrived in Thailand along with Buddhism. Like other Asian massage techniques such as shiatsu and reflexology, Ayurvedic bodywork is a form of therapy based on the theory of the flow of energy between specific points on the periphery of the body and the internal organs. Thus, even when treating a disease or injury associated with a particular part of the body, a therapist will typically work on acupressure points throughout the body. Linked through an intricate network of 72,000 sen lines (Thai energy meridians), acupressure points stimulate and relax the patient's mind and body, promoting the natural healing processes.
These sen are of critical importance to Thai massage theory. In fact, in Thailand, Thai massage is considered to be energy-work rather than body-work. This is because the traditional therapist is guided not by anatomical structures or physiological principles, but by following the intricate network of sen lines (Thai energy meridians) throughout the body. Even the yogic postures are considered primarily for their energetic effects, and only secondarily for their ability to improve flexibility and strength.
Although this art form was not developed with modern medical influence, we can clearly see that this massage routine has physiological benefits. Thai massage improves circulation, flexibility, and muscle tone. In many cases (such as over-worked muscles, fatigue, strains and sprains) properly administered Thai massage can take a vital role in repairing damaged tissue. This blend of acupressure and stretching is especially beneficial for those who find themselves stiff, sore, and tired from over-exertion in work or sports, or from arthritis or other disorders affecting mobility. Thai massage can often help these clients to recapture lost range of motion. By encouraging lymphatic function, this therapeutic deep tissue massage and stretching can also detoxify the body, heighten the immune system, and prevent disease and injury by promoting flexibility and supple joints and ligaments.
Of course, Thai massage therapists must recognize their limitations as well. In such cases as disease of the internal organs, chronic injuries, and degenerative conditions, the effects of the massage are difficult to gauge. As a holistic approach to healing, the most important function of nuad boran is to stimulate the body's natural healing process, and thus can be an invaluable adjunct to any other form of treatment. It is unrealistic, however, to expect any massage to be a panacea, and even in Thailand, it is acknowledged that it is dangerous to rely on massage in lieu of proper medical attention. Although the benefits of Thai massage are wonderful indeed, under no circumstances should massage clients forgo consultation and treatment by a qualified medical professional.
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